Refrigerator unit



April 1949- w. H. D. BROUSE 2,466,876

REFRIGERATOR UNIT Filed Feb. 12 1945 2 Shee tS Sheet 2 William H .DBrouse Patented Apr. 12, 1949 uuireo sures Al -TENT orrice REERIGERATW UNIT William H. D. Brouse', Toronto, OntarimCanada. application February-'12, 1945,- S-eri'af Nor -17-3558- 4 Glaims. (Cl.(62-11-6.

This invention: relates to improvements mechanical refrigerating devices particularlw adapted: for use in connection. with refrigerating compartments built into a; building'- andithe prin (ifizlal' object is: to: provide a unitary" structure which may be set into an: opening l nk the: wall: of the re'rr igeratiorrv compartment: andi which. comprises an arrangement or air refrigeration eirculating media adapted to circulate and? cool; the air of the refrigeraticin compartment and to bypass the: reiri'gerated air-through a quick freezing 'c'errrp'artrrient A further object is" te -provide a structurewhicn will enable the defrosting of the refrigeration coils withoutmaterially raising the: temperature in the refrigeration mpar-trnentsa it further object is to devise: a unit the operating: mechanism is readily accessible for re pair or interchange.

The principal feature oi the invention consists the novel arrangement of a motor, compressor and condenser on the outward side or arr insulating panel an evaporator and a quick freezing compartment on: the: inward side and xii-cans for" controlling the flow of air: througn the evaporator for normal refrigeration of a; r'erriger seen compartrne or for quickfreezing in: the freezing compartment,- or to onset the uerros'ting of the evaporator.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a Fig'l'll- 5' is a ldlld elevational view Of the inner face of the quick freezing compartment.

Figure 6 is a reduced elevational view of the outer or front face of the mechanical compartr'rient.

Figure '7 is a reduced sectional view showing an alternative form of a freezing unit.

In the form of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings l represents the insufated walls of a refrigeration compartment which may be of any desirable" dimensions, the end wall having a bevel edged opening 2 therein.

2., Within: the opening 2: is arrangeda bevelled edged insulated closure member 3 which. may be supported: on suitable: hinges or otherwisesee cured: as may be: desined- This closure: member; is formed with. openings; 4 and: 5t arranged; adjacent to. the top. and bottom thereof respectively and these openings are bevelled and flare outwardly.

Insulated closure members 6 and lare: prefembly bevelled to: the; openings 4 and. 5: respectiveltz and. these: are provided with? brackets 81 (*as shown in- Figure 3)-- which are: mounted on rigid horizontal-studs or rods 9 toslide outwardly to permit the free passage: of air. through. the openings 4' and 5.= and: to slide: inwardly to seal the saidopenings.

A rigid frame 10 with an. enclosing: casing is mounted. on the outward: side of the main closure member 3 and opposite? to the: opening. 4: the member 3' is. an opening: it in which: is: arranged a" suitable: condensergrid: l2 which permits the passage of air th'erethrough.

Suitably mounted within the casing Hi opposite the condenser I22: is; amotor-driverr. tan l 3- adapted: to force: air outwardly through the condenser.

Mounted in the casing in adjacent to the: bottom; is= compressor t t, here showrr driven by a motor t5: supported. thereabove.

A liquid receiver and heat exchanger N3 of suitable: construction is mounted within the casing m and is connected by a. tube I 7 leading from the condenser to which gaseous refrigerant is con;- ducted from the: compressor by a tube 1.8.

A fluid return: tube 9 connects the receiver IS with. the crank case or compressor;

Screen. openings 211- are arranged in the lower portion of: the casing is and a suitable door 21 to allow access to the refrigerating machinery arranged above the screens 2 il.

Arranged on the inner side of the closure 3 is; an enclosed chamber 22 in which is vertically mounted a suitable evaporator 211K.v

The upper head of the evaporator is con:- nected with a heat excl-iarrge coil. 21 in the receiver I51 by a tube 21' and from thence to. the suction of the compressor through the tube [9.

The compressor 14 delivers compressed. refrigerant through the tube it to the condenser t2 wherethe refrigerant is condensed. The flow from the condenser is through the tube 11 to the receiver i6 which contains the heat exchanger coil 2? referred to. The refrigerant flows then from the receiver it through the screen Hi and tube 26 to the expansion valve 25 which discharges through pipe 24 to the lower head of the I evaporator".

The evaporator, which receives the expanded refrigeration medium produces an extremely low temperature within the chamber 22.

It will be noted that the upper end of the evaporator chamber 22 is connected directly with the opening 4 and the lower end is connected with the opening 5 leading outwardly through the main chamber wall I.

The shaft 28 of the fan l3 extends centrally through the upper closure member 6 and carries a fan 29 which operates in the upper end of the evaporator chamber 22 and the air delivered from said latter fan is directed downwardly between the evaporator elements by a convolute partition wall 30.

An extension of the casing enclosing the evaporator chamber 22 encloses a chamber 3| which has an opening 32 at the top connecting same with the chamber 22, said opening being controlled by a damper 33 which is shown hinged at the top to swing downwardly. Another opening 34 is arranged opposite the opening 32 and is controlled by a damper 35 shown hinged at the bottom and which closes the top of the chamber 3| or may be swung up to close the opening 34.

At the bottom of the chamber 3| an opening 36 connects said chamber with the evaporator chamber 22 and is controlled by a damper 31 hinged at the bottom and an aligned opening 38 is controlled by a damper 39 hinged at the top to close the bottom of the chamber 3| or to close the opening 38. Suitable damper rods may be connected for operating these dampers either from the inside of the main refrigeration chamber enclosed by the walls I or from the outside of the closure member 3.

A suitable door 40 is arranged in the inner wall of the chamber 3| to give access to the interior thereof from the main refrigeration chamber and suitable grid shelves 4| are arranged in the chamber 3| for the placing of goods which it may be desired to freeze and hold frozen.

In the operation of this refrigeration unit the compressed refrigerant is liberated to the evaporator through the expansion valve 25 thereby producing a low temperature condition in the vertical chamber 22. With the upper damper 33 raised and the damper 35 lowered and'the lower damper 31 lowered and the damper 39 raised, as

shown in Figure 1, the fan 23 draws air from the top of the main refrigeration chamber enclosed by the walls 3 inwardly and forces it downwardly past the evaporator elements and then outwardly through the aligned bottom openings 35 and 38 back into the bottom of said refrigeration chamber, thereby maintaining the desired temperature in said chamber. 1 When it is desired to quick-freeze certain commodities these are placed on the grid shelves 4| and the upper damper 35 is raised and the lower damper 39 is closed, thereby directing the full flow of low temperature air through the chamber 3|. When the desired temperature has been retained in the chamber 3| for the required period to freeze the contents thereof the dampers 35 and 39 may be adjusted to allow a portion of the air flow to be drawn from the top of the main refrigeration chamber and the quick-freezing chamber and likewise the lower dampers may be regulated to direct part of the cold air into both refrigeration chambers, thereby maintaining the desired temperature in both. The control of these dampers may be effected thermostatically if desired.

When it becomes desirable to defrost the evaporator the compressor machine is first stopped then the dampers 33 and 31 will be operated to close the openings 32 and 36, thereby closing oh the refrigeration chambers from the evaporator chamber. When this is done the closure members 6 and l are operated to open the top and bottom respectively of the evaporator chamber to the interior of the casing N]. The fan 29 then draws warm air from the compartment l0 and circulates it through the opening 6, the chamber 22 and the opening I. This rapid passage of warm air, with the refrigeration compressor stopped quickly defrosts the evaporator, the water being carried away by a suitable drain trough 42,

' It will be appreciated that if the temperature within the quick-freezing chamber should be kept within certain ranges it may be found desirable to operate the dampers 35 and 39 to close the openings between the quick-freezing chamber and the main chamber and this can be done with the dampers 33 and 31 closed.

When the evaporator has been defrosted the closure members 6 and I will be returned to the closed positions and the refrigeration mechanism again put into operation.

During the defrosting operation the temperatures in the refrigeration chambers will not alter materially and the goods stored will not be subjected to detrimental conditions.

A structure such as described will be manufactured as a self-contained unit and can be readily installed in any structure desired at very low installation cost.

It will be understood that suitable well known automatic temperature controls may be utilized to maintain the desired temperatures in the main refrigeration chamber when not fast freezing in compartment 3|, or depositing the evaporator.

It will also be understood that the device described comprising a quick-freezing compartment and an evaporator compartment may be enclosed within an insulating casing as illustrated in miniature in Figure '7 with the machine compartment arranged on the outer side of the evaporator compartment so that the device may be constructed as a unit and refrigerated air may be conducted therefrom by suitable ducts connected with the refrigerating compartment.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a refrigerator unit, a refrigerating compartment, having a removable insulating panel forming part of a Wall thereof, said panel having openings therethrough at the top and bottom thereof, means for opening and closing said openings, an evaporator compartment mounted on said panel and extendin into said refrigerating compartment, openings at the top and bottom of said evaporator compartment, a freezing compartment extending from said evaporator compartment into said refrigerating compartment, openings at the top and bottom of said freezing compartment, means for controlling the openings from the evaporator compartment, and means for independently controlling the flow of air through the freezing compartment.

2. In a refrigerator unit, having an open side, a removable refrigerating compartment, of an insulating panel forming a closure for said open side and having openings therethrough at the top and bottom thereof, means for opening and closing said openings, an evaporator compartment mounted on said panel and extending into said refrigerating compartment and communicating ings at the top and bottom on the side adjacent to the refrigerating compartment, a freezing compartment extending into said refrigerating compartment and communicating with the top and bottom openings thereof and havin top and bottom openings leading into said refrigerating compartment, dampers arranged in the openings leading from the evaporator compartment to the freezing compartment, and dampers adapted to control the flow of refrigerated air through the freezing compartment and to control the size of the openings from the freezing compartment to the refrigerating compartment.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2 in which the dampers controlling the size of the openings between the evaporator compartment and the freezing compartment are hinged to swin away from the passage through the freezing compartment and to swing to close the openings between said freezing and evaporating compartments, and the dampers controlling the size of the openings between the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment are adapted to close the top and bottom of the freezing compartment and. to regulate the size of the openings between the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment.

4. A refrigerator unit comprising an insulating panel forming a wall of said unit and having openings therethrough adjacent to the top and bottom thereof, closure members movable from one side of said panel, an evaporator compartment on the side of said panel opposed to said closure members and enclosing said openings, an evaporator mounted in said evaporator compartment, a freezing compartment adjacent said evaporator compartment having openings at the top and bottom communicating with the evaporator compartment and openings arranged opposite said last-mentioned openings, dampers controlling the size of the openings at the top of said freezing compartment, a casing mounted on said panel and enclosing the panel closure members and having openings at the top and bottom, a condenser connected in series with said evaporator and arranged in the top opening of the latter casing, motor operated fan means for drawing air into said casing and driving air through said condenser and fan means for drawing said indrawn air through the upper panel opening and said evaporator compartment, and means for circulating a refrigerant through said evaporator.

WILLIAM H. D. BROUSE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,703,318 Muttly Feb. 26, 1929 2,017,152 Hull Oct. 15, 1935 2,124,268 Williams July 19, 1938 2,259,803 Cumming Oct. 21, 1941 2,382,084 Matthews Aug. 14, 1945 2,437,451 Baird May 9, 1948 

